It’s been eight years since he rode down the escalator in Trump Tower and more than two years since the January 6, 2021, insurrection, but the legal drama surrounding Donald Trump has never been more intense.
Here are key things to know about the former president’s three indictments:
Hush-money payments: In New York, a hush-money payment to adult film star Stormy Daniels resulted in Trump’s indictment by a Manhattan grand jury over his alleged role in the scheme – the first time in American history that a current or former president was criminally charged. He was charged with 34 felony counts of falsifying business records.
The former president surrendered and was placed under arrest April 4, before he was arraigned in a historic and unprecedented court appearance, at which he pleaded not guilty.
Mar-a-Lago documents: Special counsel Jack Smith is overseeing the Justice Department’s criminal investigations into the retention of national defense information at Trump’s resort and into parts of the January 6, 2021, insurrection.
Trump was initially indicted on, and has pleaded not guilty to, 37 federal charges related to the investigation of documents that were allegedly mishandled when they were taken to Mar-a-Lago in Florida after Trump left office. Last week, Smith charged Trump with three additional counts in a superseding indictment.
A judge has set a May 2024 start date for the trial.
2020 election and January 6: Smith’s purview also includes the period after Trump’s 2020 election loss to Joe Biden and leading up to the insurrection at the US Capitol.
A federal grand jury indicted Trump on four criminal counts in the investigation: conspiracy to defraud the United States; conspiracy to obstruct an official proceeding; obstruction of and attempt to obstruct an official proceeding; and conspiracy against rights. Trump pleaded not guilty to the federal charges on Thursday.
The next hearing is set for August 28 at 10 a.m. ET.